How has GDP by industry in Connecticut’s metro areas changed over time?

Data Editor

Some industries in Connecticut metro areas have more than doubled their Gross Domestic Product between 2001 and 2014, surpassing the average growth in cities across the country, according to new figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

For example, the categories of utilities and information in the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk area saw growth of 137 percent and 118 percent respectively.

In Hartford-West-Hartford-East Hartford, the industry with the largest GDP growth between 2001 and 2014 was information at 145 percent.

The New Haven-Milford area’s GDP in utilities increased almost 175 percent, while the U.S. metro area average was just 56 percent.

Meanwhile, Norwich-New London’s wholesale trade industry had the biggest GDP growth out of all industries of any metro area in Connecticut: 240 percent.

On the other hand, some industries in Connecticut cities did not share the same pace of growth that cities across the country did.

Let’s take a closer look at some industry categories in Connecticut over time.

In 2001, Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk produced a $647 million GDP, essentially tied with Worcester, MA-CT at that time. But that changed in 2003, when GDP started increasing. A gap of data exists in this city during the Great Recession, but in 2014, the GDP was $1,537 million.

Between 2008 and 2011, Norwich-New London briefly surpassed Worcester, MA-CT in GDP from utilities.

The transportation and warehousing GDP dropped during the Great Recession in Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk and has never fully recovered, though it has seen growth. Instead, Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford grew from $1,216 million in 2005 to $1,738 million in 2014.

Andrew is a data editor at TrendCT.org and the Connecticut Mirror. He teaches data visualization at Central Connecticut State University as well intro to data journalism at Wesleyan University as a Koeppel Fellow.
He was a founding producer of The Boston Globe's Data Desk where he used a variety of methods to visualize or tell stories with data. Andrew also was an online producer at The Virginian-Pilot and a staff writer at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He’s a Metpro Fellow, a Chips Quinn Scholar, and a graduate of the University of Texas.